Writer, intellectual and playwright Ashfaq Ahmed was born on August 22, 1925 in Muktasar district of Ferozepur in India. Javed Tariq, Mr Ahmed’s nephew, told Daily Times that his uncle got his early education at Ferozepur, and then did his BA from Lahore and Masters in Urdu from Government College in Lahore. He started writing stories in his childhood, which were published in Phool magazine.

Ashfaq Ahmed will be long remembered for his prolific contribution as a writer, broadcaster, critic and analyst in the country’s intellectual history.

He was a man of scruples, who never discouraged others. He was a humble and contented person and lacked element of arrogance whatsoever. He had his own way of advancing argument and drawing conclusions on complex social issues.

An important aspect of his personality was his simple but convincing way of preaching values and virtues of Islam, which directly touched one’s soul. He got recognition as broadcaster after he started his radio programme Talqeen Shah, projecting a man of dual personality and exposed hypocrisy in the society. From ‘Talqeen Shah’ to TV talk show ‘Zavia’, his personality virtually transformed into a ‘darvesh’ and a mystic from a modern and progressive writer. His TV drama series ‘Aik Muhabbat Sau Afsaney’ represented his prime qualities of head and heart and earned appreciation not only in Pakistan but also in India. For his excellent literary work, he was awarded President’s Pride of Performance and Sitara-e-Imtiaz. He won various literary awards as well. He has also authored about 20 books on Urdu literature. In his death, not only the literary circles have lost a great writer, whose works can easily be compared with those of Manto, Chughtai and Krishan Chander, but the nation has also been deprived of a great reformer and a man of intellect and wisdom. Composure and contentment were his asset.

He seldom lost courage in the fight against the fatal disease of cancer in his gall bladder. The country is certainly poorer today as a result of his demise. The void created by his death in the literary circles will be difficult to fill for a long time to come. We join the nation in mourning Ashfaq Ahmed’s demise and pray for his eternal rest and for grant of courage and fortitude for his bereaved family.

Achievements: Writer Ashfaq Ahmed did diplomas in the Italian and French languages from the University of Rome and Grenoble University, France. He got special training in broadcasting from New York University. He was a lecturer at Diyal Singh College for two years and was later appointed professor of Urdu at Rome University. When he returned to Pakistan, he published his literary magazine Dastan go. He was also the editor of weekly Lail-o-Nehar for two years. He was appointed director of the Markazi Urdu Board in 1966, which was later renamed the Urdu Science Board. He remained with the board until 1979. Mr Ahmed was also appointed advisor in the Education Ministry during Ziaul Haq’s regime. Mr Ahmed became a prominent short story writer in 1955 when his short story Gadariya was published. He used Punjabi literary words very well in Urdu and introduced a new kind of prose, which was unique to him. His command of story writing was also rare. Aik Mauhababt Sau Afsaanay and Ujlay Phool are his early short story collections.

He later wrote Safar Dar Safar, (travelogue), Khail Kahnai (novel) and Tota Kahani (dramas), which are his most prominent works. Mr Ahmed introduced his famous character Talqeen Shah in 1962 at Radio Pakistan Lahore. It was a weekly feature that ran for three decades, the longest weekly radio show in the subcontinent. In the 60s, Mr Ahmed produced a feature film Dhoop aur Saie. Its songs were written by Munir Niazi and Tufail Niazi composed the music. Actor Kavi Khan made his debut as a lead in that film. However, it did not do well at the box office. In the 70s, the prolific writer wrote a drama series Aik Mauhbbat so Afsanay based on the short story collection of the same name. In the 80s, his Tota Kahani and Man Chalay Ka Sauda were televised. The shows steeped in Sufism and were criticised a lot. He used to focus more on dialogue than the plot of the play and his characters used to utter long dialogues. Currently, he was hosting a TV programme named Zavia. The late Qudaratullah Shahab and Mumtaz Mufti were his friends. Mr Ahmed’s wife Bano Qudsia is a novelist. May Allah the almighty rest his soul in peace n heavens.